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| USN Essex-class aircraft carrier 27,100 Tons (standard) 820' x 93' x 28' 5" (as built) (as built) 4 × twin 5" 4 × single 5" 8 × Quad 40mm 46 × 20 mm cannons Aircraft: 110 (as built) |
Ship History Built by Bethlehem Steel Company in Quincy, Mass. Laid down as USS Cabot July 15, 1941 but renamed USS Lexington June 16, 1942 after USS Lexington CV-2 was sunk May 8, 1942 during the Battle of the Coral Sea. Lexington CV-16 was the fifth US Navy ship to bear the name, is named in honor of the Battle of Lexington during the American Revolutionary War. Launched September 23, 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Theodore Douglas Robinson. Commissioned February 17, 1943, with Captain Felix Stump USN in command. Nicknamed the "Blue Ghost" because Lexington was painted dark blue and was the only U.S. Navy carrier not painted in a camouflage scheme. Wartime History Afterwards, the carrier underwent a shakedown cruise in the Caribbean Sea. On June 2, 1943 Lexington suffered her first fatality when Ensign Nile Kinnick, O-125828 (1939 Heisman Trophy winner) developed a serious oil leak and ditched rather than risk a carrier landing ditched and was never found. Afterwards, Lexington steamed to Boston for additional yard work. On August 9, 1943 Lexington departs via the Panama Canal for Pearl Harbor. During late September, her aircraft raided Tarawa i and Wake Island during October, then returned to Pearl Harbor to prepare for operations off the Gilbert Islands. During November 19-24 her aircraft flew sorties in the Marshalls and provided aerial cover for the landings in the Gilberts. On November 23-24, her pilots claimed 29 enemy aircraft. On December 4, 1943 her aircraft attack Kwajalein. The morning strike destroyed a cargo ship, damaged two cruisers, and accounted for 30 enemy aircraft. Her gunners splashed two of the enemy torpedo planes that attacked at midday, but were ordered not to open fire at night as the Admiral in command believed it would give their position away. At 7:20pm, a major air attack began while the task force was under way off Kwajalein. At 11:22 Japanese aircraft dropped parachute flares that silhouetted the carrier and ten minutes later she was hit by a torpedo on the starboard side, knocking out her steering gear. Nine crew members were killed, two on the fantail and seven in the chief petty officers mess room, which was a repair party station during general quarters. Four members of the affected repair party survived because they were sitting on a couch that apparently absorbed the shock of the explosion. Settling 5' by the stern, the carrier began circling to port amidst dense clouds of smoke pouring from ruptured tanks aft. To maintain water tight integrity, damage control crews were ordered to seal the damaged compartments and welded them shut applying heavy steel plates where needed. An emergency hand-operated steering unit was devised and Lexington departed the area. Afterwards, the Japanese claimed the carrier as sunk during "Tokyo Rose" propaganda broadcasts. On December 9, 1943 arrives at Pearl Harbor for emergency repairs, the carrier then departed for Bremerton, Washington arriving December 22, 1943 and underwent full repairs which were completed by February 20, 1944 Afterwards, Lexington steamed via Alameda, California, and Pearl Harbor bound for Majuro. On March 8, 1944 joined Task Force 58 (TF 58) as the flagship of Rear Admiral Marc Mitscher. On March 18, 1944 Lexington aircraft attacked Milli. Lost was SBD Dauntless 36540 (MIA). On April 1, 1944 her aircraft attacked Woleai. Lost was F6F Hellcat 40691 (MIA) TBM Avenger 25443 (rescued), F6F Hellcat 25827 (rescued), F6F Hellcat 40078 (rescued). On April 13, 1944 her aircraft attacked Hollandia in support of the upcoming amphibious landing and on April 28, 1944 attacked Truk. A counterattack left Lexington undamaged and her aircraft claimed 17 enemy fighters. For the second time, Japanese propaganda claimed her sunk. On June 11, 1944 Lexington aircraft conducted a surprise fighter strike on Saipan that virtually eliminated all aerial opposition. On June 16, Lexington defended against a fierce attack by Japanese torpedo planes from Guam but once again emerge undamaged, but was claimed sunk a third time by Japanese propaganda. On June 13, 1944 Lexington aircraft including TBM Avengers from VT-16 strike Aslito Airfield on Saipan. Lost is TBM-1C Avenger 25288 pilot Commander Robert H. Isely (MIA). During June 19-20 participated in the Battle of the Philippine Sea (Great Marianas Turkey Shoot), Lexington's aircraft played a major role in Task Force 58 (TF-58) victory with over 300 enemy aircraft destroyed the first day, and a carrier, a tanker, and a destroyer sunk the second day, American aviators virtually knocked Japanese naval aviation out of the war; for with the planes went the trained and experienced pilots without whom Japan could not continue air warfare at sea. Reportedly, a USS Lexington pilot remarked after the battle "Why, hell, it was just like an old-time turkey shoot down home!" Using Eniwetok as her base, Lexington flew sorties over Guam and against the Palau and the Bonins Islands during August. She arrived in the Carolinas on 7 September for three days of strikes against Yap and Ulithi, then began attacks on Mindanao and the Manila area, and shipping off the western coast of Luzon, in preparation for the upcoming assault on Leyte. Her task force then blasted Okinawa on 10 October and Formosa two days later to destroy bases from which opposition to the Philippines campaign might be launched . She was again unscathed through the air battle fought after the Formosa assault. Now covering the Leyte landings, Lexington's planes scored importantly in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the climactic American naval victory over Japan. While the carrier came under constant enemy attack in the engagement in which Princeton was sunk, her planes joined in sinking Musashi and scored hits on three cruisers on 24 October. Next day, with aircraft from USS Essex (CV-9) sank Chitose, and alone sank Zuikaku. Later in the day, they aided in sinking Zuihō. As the retiring Japanese were pursued, her planes sank Nachi with four torpedo hits on 5 November off Luzon. Later that day, Lexington was introduced to the kamikaze as a flaming Japanese plane crashed near her island, destroying most of the island structure and spraying fire in all directions. Within 20 minutes, major blazes were under control, and she was able to continue normal flight actions, her guns knocking down a kamikaze heading for USS Ticonderoga (CV-15). On 9 November, Lexington arrived in Ulithi to repair battle damage while hearing again that Tokyo once again claimed her destroyed beneath the deep blue seas. Casualties were considered light despite the island structures destruction. On December 11, 1944 became flagship for Task Group 58.2 (TG 58.2). On December 14, 1944 began three days of strikes by carrier planes against Japanese airfields in central Luzon. Eight planes from VF-20 are lost including F6F Hellcat 71494 pilot Ensign Richard M. Kimball (rescued), F6F Hellcat 71800 pilot Lt(jg) Douglas Baker (MIA), F6F 70109 pilot Ensign Albert L. Ehrreich (rescued), F6F Hellcat 71481 pilot Ensign James G. Darracott (MIA), F6F Hellcat 70890 pilot Ensign George W. McJimsey, F6F Hellcat 58510 pilot Ensign James W. Robinson, F6F Hellcat 58831 pilot Lt. Alexander Vraciu (rescued), F6F Hellcat 58540 pilot Lt(jg) James W. Beckman (KIA). The carrier also struck struck at the airfields of Luzon and Formosa during the first 9 days of January 1945, encountering little enemy opposition. The task force then entered the China Sea to strike enemy shipping and air installations. Strikes were flown against Saipan, Camranh Bay in then Indochina, Hong Kong, the Pescadores, and Formosa. Task force planes sank four merchant ships and four escorts in one convoy and destroyed at least 12 in another, at Camranh Bay on 12 January. Leaving the China Sea on 20 January, Lexington sailed north to strike Formosa again on January 21, 1945 and Okinawa again on January 22, 1945. After replenishing at Ulithi, TG 58.2 departed on February 10, 1945 bound for Japan. On February 16 and February 17, 1945 her carrier aircraft hit airfields near Tokyo to minimize opposition to the Iwo Jima landings on 19 February. During February 19-22, 1945 Lexington flew close support for the assaulting troops then for further strikes against the Japanese home islands and Nansei Shoto before departing for overhaul at Puget Sound. After repairs were completed on May 22, 1945 departed Puget Sound via Alameda and Pearl Harbor then across the Pacific to San Pedro Bay off Leyte where she joined Rear Admiral Thomas L. Sprague's task force for air strikes. During July 1945 her carrier aircraft attacked the Japan until the end of Pacific War with attacks on airfields on Honshū and Hokkaidō plus Yokosuka and Kure naval bases to destroy the remnants of the Japanese fleet and industrial targets around Tokyo. On July 24, 1945 lost was F4U Corsair 81319 (MIA). On August 15, 1945 after learning of the Japanese surrender, her carrier planes airborne were ordered to jettison their bombs and return to the carrier. After hostilities ended, she continued to fly precautionary patrols over Japan, and dropped supplies to prisoner of war camps on Honshū. She supported the occupation of Japan, On December 3, 1945 departed Tokyo Bay with veterans aboard transporting them to San Francisco arriving December 16, 1945. Postwar Lexington was decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, but was modernized and reactivated in the early 1950s, being reclassified as an attack carrier (CVA), and then an antisubmarine carrier (CVS). In her second career, she operated both in the Atlantic/Mediterranean and the Pacific, but spent most of her time, nearly 30 years, on the east coast as a training carrier (CVT). Museum Decommissioned in 1991, Lexington remained on active duty longer than any other Essex-class aircraft carrier. Afterwards, donated to USS Lexington Museum on the Bay in Corpus Christi, Texas to display the carrier and make it accessible to visitors. On September 8, 1987 SBD-5 Dauntless 28536 took off from USS Lexington (CV-16). Designated a National Historic Landmark in 2003. The ship's WWII-era gun battery is also being partially restored using guns salvaged from scrapped ships. Most notable among these are two 5"/38 DP gun turrets saved from the scrapping of the heavy cruiser USS Newport News. They have been mounted in the approximate locations where similar mounts once existed as part of the ship's original configuration. References USS Lexington Museum FindAGrave - Nile Clarke Kinnick Jr. (photo, East Coast Memorial photo) Contribute
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